Cardiff City will hand Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a huge transfer war chest in January if the Norwegian agrees to replace Malky Mackay as the club’s manager.

Controversial owner Vincent Tan is desperate to have a new boss in place before they host fellow strugglers West Ham United on January 11, and has instructed his board to do whatever it takes to land the former Manchester United striker.

Bluebirds chairman Mehmet Dalman is understood to have opened negotiations with representatives of the Molde boss, and admits he has ‘only one candidate in mind’ for the vacancy.

‘I have not made an offer to anybody as such, but that does not mean I have not had discussions,’ said Dalman. ‘You know what these things are like, they take time.

‘We will do our work as diligently and as quickly as we can but I am reasonably optimistic that we will get things moving.’

Solskjaer is understood to be desperate to manage in the Premier League and the promise of big funds to spend in the transfer window might tempt him to work with Tan, despite the Malaysian’s treatment of Mackay.